The Municipal Library and Cultural Centre will officially open its doors to the public on June 29.
Over the past two weeks library staff and volunteers have been working hard to get the library up and running, moving thousands of books and pieces of furniture from the old library to its new location at 500 Robson Street.
鈥淥n June 16 we received the occupancy permit from Parks Canada which signaled the last step required in order to get on with the show,鈥� said Mark Fercho, the municipality鈥檚 chief administrative officer during a council meeting June 21.
The Jasper Artist Guild (JAG) and It Only Takes A Dream (IOTAD) will officially open聽 two days later on July 1.
Both organizations signed their 10-year lease agreements with the municipality during the council meeting allowing the organizations to begin moving into their new premises on June 23. The Jasper chapter of the Association Canadienne-Fran莽aise de l鈥橝lberta (ACFA) will also begin to move in on that day.
JAG and IOTAD initially refused to sign their 10-year lease agreements earlier in the month after council added a last minute condition that their lease agreements would have be renewed annually. The intent was to increase each organization鈥檚 accountability to the community.
According to the new lease agreements every year each party will review the terms of the lease and make any amendments, additions or deletions that both parties mutually agree to.
鈥淭hey basically changed the word from renew to review,鈥� explained Marianne聽Garrah, of Habitat for the Arts, which is part of IOTAD.
She also said they eliminated a condition that council would have to approve the renewed leases annually.
In addition to tweaking the leases, JAG must also provide the municipality with its membership requirements each and every year to ensure members that use its space remain 鈥減roximate鈥� and are 鈥渃onnected鈥� to the community.
In other words, in order to volunteer with JAG and use its space a volunteer must sign a volunteer agreement and commit eight hours of their time each month. By doing so they are considered a member in 鈥済ood standing鈥� and will be able to sell their art with JAG.
鈥淚 find it actually helps JAG because it gives more clout to the volunteer agreement, now people don鈥檛 have any choice, they will have to sign it and I just feel like it鈥檚 a really necessary component of our organization,鈥� said Claude聽Boocock, a director for JAG.
She said the non-profit organization鈥檚 furthest member currently lives in St. Albert and visits Jasper regularly. Two other members live in Robson Valley and Hinton respectively.
鈥淥ur membership declined considerably when we had to vacate the old fire hall, people just didn鈥檛 think it was worth it for them, we鈥檝e lost about two thirds of our members,鈥� said Boocock.
In addition to the library opening, the first municipal council meeting will be held in the new building on July 19th, which also happens to coincide with the 15th anniversary of Jasper becoming a municipality.
About two weeks later on August 4 the municipality will host an open house for locals to attend. The grand opening event is scheduled for September 30 to coincide with Alberta Culture Days, which takes place from September 30 to October 2.
Paul Clarke
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